NEW YORK — It doesn’t take long to know that Gerald McCoy is the character of this group. Based on a handful of meetings, he also happens to be self-aware. That makes McCoy a great interview. He’s media-ready.

On the football front, McCoy has expressed on a few occasions he hopes to be a top-three pick in the draft, which is right where most prognosticators have him pegged — at No. 3 to the Buccaneers. He opened up a bit on the topic Wednesday.

“I would [normally] never say anything like this, but I feel I deserve it,” McCoy said of being a top-three selection.

“You never know, now. There’s a lot of different talk about it, but on every draft board I’m not past three. But, it’s the NFL Draft. You never know. I can’t tell. I couldn’t tell you where I was going, even if they told me. It’s all up in the air.”

Don’t get the wrong impression of McCoy, he was simply being honest in answering a question, and that’s refreshing. He’s open and engaging, but dig deeper and he’ll tell you about his passion for football. The opportunity just around the corner also isn’t lost on him. He expects he’ll cry on draft day because he’ll be overwhelmed with emotion. He definitely holds some perspective on the whole thing.

“It would be [an honor to be picked third],” McCoy said. “But it’s an honor just being picked in the top 10. Even if I’m not picked in the top 10, if I go in the first round, that’s an honor in itself. Having the opportunity to play at the next level is an honor. Mr. Roger Goodell is giving us an opportunity to do that, so I’m taking it all in stride.”

One other note: McCoy, quite possibly the biggest Warren Sapp fan walking the planet, claims he won’t ask for No. 99 out of respect, regardless of which team he plays for.

– Frank Tadych

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